Tuesday, June 2, 2009

One Tip Wednesday

Around every 6 months, I try to nearly empty our food supply to allow for all new, fresh food to be bought. That means that we eat down the food in our freezer and pantry as much as we can before I purchase new food. Most food in your freezer only last around 6 months before it can begin to get freezer burn and not be as fresh. And it also allows me to use up things we might not otherwise use.

A pick of my fridge toward the end.

My pantry - and this was taken a little before. We actually had very little left when I went to the store.

Same here. Most of the cans you see right here I had bought to finish out recipes before the big shopping trip.

And after restocking. You can see a large supply of frozen food in the freezer. I also plan my menu to include a number of meals I can pre-make and freeze for later use when we are limited on time. I'm going to have another post on this soon.

So how do we not starve during this process or eat strange foods that just don't go together? Careful meal planning. During the month when we are eating down our pantry/freezer, I plan our meals around the food we already have. So if I have ground turkey and a can of tomatoes, I pickup a package of chili seasoning and we have a meal. I only purchase things that I know we will use with the food we need to use up. If there are still things left that I know we will never use, I donate them to the food pantry. It may be something I bought and we (or the boys) decided they didn't like or one of our parents sent to our house (their way of making sure we don't starve I think). But always check your dates, never send anything that is expired or close to expiring. If it is, toss it.

You will have a very large grocery bill when you go to restock everything, but in the month or so leading up to it, you should find your bill to be lower since you are only buying things you know you will use and using things you already have. So it should even out. I will confess, I may not do this every 6 months on the dot. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. Sometimes I do it if I notice things are getting low on their own, I'll just take that opportunity to use up what we have before doing a big shopping trip. Obviously though this doesn't include things like bread, milk and things to send in the kids/hubby's lunch. I also don't generally include condiments. Those I keep until they expire and buy them if we run out.

Have tips you want to share? Post a link to your tip under the comments section. And feel free to grab the button above. Please just be sure to give a link linking back to my blog.

I enjoyed reading your blog today. I love all the new blogs I have found. Quite a unique group.I love making new blogging friends..I have several Disney posts already on my blog and have several more to post. Hope you will stop by for a visit.

Welcome!

I began this blog to have my own space. After a year of blogging, I began getting involved in other blogs on crafting, cooking and home decorating, so I have begun my own blog here at Sweetly Southern. My family blog is still very active at http://thecreekmorefour.blogspot.com/ but now I can keep my hobbies and my family's activities on two seperate blogs.

I really do have a life besides blogging!

Click here for my family's blog all about the life of the Creekmore Four.

I have been a crafter since a young child and I love creating new things. I love scrapbooking and am a professional photographer. I will share recipes on occasions, my tips on organizing and share things that I've done to make our home a space just for us.

On Wednesday's I share tips on how I organize my own life and home. Click on the One Tip Wednesday button to see past post. And come join me in sharing tips on keeping your family on the move!